Short-barrelled Smith & Wesson Top Break - Invention or Historically Accurate?

[cluttonfred]

I notice that Uberti sell's a short-barrelled 3.5" version of their S&W single-action replica, though only in .45 Colt.

Uberti Top Break Revolver

I know that the original 7" Schofield models were shortened to 5" for commercial sale to make them "concealable," and I am sure that there were plenty of cut-down custom guns to any barrel length desired, but does anybody know if the originals were ever sold from the factory with short barrels like the Uberti?

Cheers,

Matthew

 

[Jim Watson]

Smith & Wesson is not known to have made a Schofield with any other barrel length than 7 inches.

They did more with the No 3 New Model, but even so, a short barreled big S&W single action is a rarity.

 

[mainmech48]

If I remember correctly, when the inventory of government-owned No. 3 "Schofields" were withdrawn from issue and sold as surplus many (if not most) were purchased by a large east coast firm (the name of which eludes me at present) and sold on the civilian market,

A goodly percentage of these were modified by shortening the barrel from 6.5/7" to 5". A sizable number of these were supposedly purchased by Wells Fargo & Co. which is why the 5" replicas are usually marketed as the "Wells Fargo Model".

I've not seen any period references to No. 3 Schofields being offered commercially with shorter barrels, but suppose that it's quite possible, perhaps even probable, that some individuals may have had theirs so modified by a gunsmith.

But as Mr. Watson stated there are no records I can find that S&W produced any of the No. 3 Schofields with a 5" or shorter barrel.

 

[Mooseman]

Those are some beautiful revolvers!

 

[bannockburn]

mainmech48

The company you mention may have been that of Francis Banermans in New York City. He was probably the first surplus arms dealer in the U.S. and built up a considerable business buying weapons and government surplus at auctions and then reselling them on the commercial market.

 

[pendennis]

According to Mr. Roy Jinks' book, the Model 3 came as follows:

• American Model - 6", 7", 8"
• First Model Russian - 5", 6", 7", 8"
• Transition Model American - 8"
• American Second Model - 5.5", 6", 6.25", 6.5", 7"
• Russian Second Model - 5.5", 6", 6.5", 7", 8"
• Russian Third Model - 6.5"
• Schofield - 7"
• New Model (1878) - 3.5", 4", 5", 6", 6.5", 7", 7.5", 8" (4,6.5,8= "Standard")
• New Model Turkish - 6.5"

The surplus Model 3 Schofields were sold as surplus to various dealers, and some of those had barrels shortened to 5" (evidently not by S&W, though), and sold to Wells Fargo.

I don't think you can ever say never with S&W. However, those above numbers are what I could glean from Mr. Jinks' book.

 

[Jim K]

I have seen one (1) of those big top breaks with a factory 3 1/2" barrel and I don't recall what model it was. Based on the books, I assume it was a New Model No. 3, but didn't make a note of it at the time. Anyway, the short barrels were extremely rare, but the 3 1/2" barrel is not modern fantasy; S&W did make them, or at least cataloged them.

Jim

 

[Iron Sight]

Need to shoot it more.